AMC Theatres had its busiest weekend Thursday, July 8 through Sunday, July 11 since March 2020, according to Yahoo! Finance. AMC brought in 3.2 million moviegoers, with 2.5 million in US theaters and 650,000 internationally. This makes AMC the record holder for highest post-reopening weekend attendance globally.
Titles in the box office July 8-July 11 included F9: The Fast Saga, The Forever Purge, Zola, and The Boss Baby: Family Business. The shining star of the box office this weekend was Marvel Studios’ Black Widow starring Scarlett Johansson, David Harbour, and Florence Pugh. Yahoo! Finance reported that the weekend’s top 10 films collectively brought in over $100 million in domestic box office sales.
(Psst… Scarlett Johansson fans will want to read more about her impressive career here)
Movies in theaters: Black Widow breaks pandemic release record
Black Widow broke the record for highest-selling pandemic release, bringing in $80 million to the domestic box office and $78 million internationally, according to CNBC. The Walt Disney Company also released that Black Widow earned $60 million from global Disney+ Premier Access sales.
“Black Widow” has stolen the pandemic-era box office crown. https://t.co/SmxyksKMOf
— CNBC (@CNBC) July 12, 2021
The Numbers reports that Black Widow surpassed the box office debut of F9, which set the previous pandemic release record with about $70 million in domestic sales. According to the movie data site, Black Widow had the largest domestic opening weekend since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in December 2019.
Black Widow marks Marvel’s first film release since Spider-Man: Far From Home in July 2019. Black Widow was originally set to release in May 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, actor David Harbour gives some insight as to how the decision to push back the film’s release was made:
“Kevin [Feige] was like ‘No, we’re going to put it out in the theaters. It’s important for Marvel movies to be in the theaters.’ At that time I was like ‘I don’t know, man. I don’t like this at all.’ And then now that it’s coming around and theaters are reopening, I was wrong. I’m super glad that this movie’s being released in theaters.”
‘Black Widow’ Brings The Box Office Back Alive With Record Pandemic $13.2M Thursday Night https://t.co/MiD36QZPqW
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 9, 2021
“Well, we made this movie to be seen in cinemas,” director Cate Shortland tells Deadline. “And it’s not so much seen in cinemas, it’s felt in cinemas because we created the sound, and the music, and just the huge beautiful spectacle was to be seen on a big screen.”
Comic Book Resources reported that Black Widow is outperforming Marvel’s last film release, Spider-Man: Far From Home. Black Widow earned $39.5 million on opening day compared to Spider-Man: Far From Home’s $39.25 million.
Reactions to seeing the Black Widow movie in theaters
In his review of Black Widow, Hollywood.com writer Tommy McArdle wrote that audience members in his theater erupted into laughter during the film’s moments of comedic relief. Read Tommy’s full review here.
Fans took to Twitter to share their reactions after seeing Black Widow in theaters this weekend.
Meghan said that seeing the Marvel film in theaters left her speechless.
JUST FINISHED BLACK WIDOW IN THEATERS IM SPEECHLESS OMG
— meghan (@lgbtchastains) July 10, 2021
One fan said they enjoyed their Black Widow movie theater experience so much that they saw it three times!
seeing Black Widow for the 3rd time in theaters tonight
— Q ⧗ (@QRankins) July 10, 2021
This Twitter user said they highly recommend seeing Black Widow in theaters.
So…. #BlackWidow is SICK! Highly recommended to see in theaters or IMAX though #MCU #Marvel
— King Ragnar (@Ragnarskingdom) July 10, 2021
Thomas said the whole theater applauded when the movie started— an excitement you don’t experience when streaming at home!
Well, I saw #BlackWidow last night in a crowded IMAX theatre that erupted into applause at the Marvel Studios logo. I think we can safely say that theaters are back for sure now.
— Thomas – Nerd with a dream (@ThomasInvincib) July 10, 2021
This fan said that experiencing a Marvel movie in theaters again made them very emotional. (We’re right there with them!!)
experiencing a marvel movie in theaters for the first time in two years was so emotional for me I was crying during the shang-chi trailer #BlackWidow
— cam SAW BW (@camlovespidey) July 10, 2021
Looking to head to the movie theater to see Black Widow or one of the other new releases out now? Check out our guide to safely returning to the movie theater!
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